The League of Nations couldn’t do it. The United Nations can’t do it. Amnesty International won’t get it done. All of the pot smoking, V flashing hippies of
the 60’s didn’t make a dent in it. John
Lennon’s classic hit didn’t do it. None
of these things brought peace or will bring peace. Why not?
In the first generation of mankind outside of the Garden of
Eden we find the first recorded murder in human history. Murder is part of sin as is greed and pride
and all the host of things that most inspire the world to go to war. Men fight for the greed of territory with raw
materials. They fight for the pride of
country. They fight simply because they
hate other people. The ones that they
fight then fight back. Men cannot change
the visible problem until they change the inner problem. We are sinners and do sinful things that lead
to a world in turmoil, nations in turmoil, neighborhoods in turmoil and
families in turmoil. All this turmoil comes from hearts in turmoil. We need to start at the heart. We need to bring peace there first.
Jesus said, “Blessed (happy) are the peacemakers for they
shall be called the sons of God”. You
see, God is in the peace making business.
God could be perpetually at war with mankind since we are constantly
offending Him and breaking His laws. He
could be, but He isn’t. God reached out
to mankind through the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. Instead of being at war with us, God has
given to us the means of reconciliation.
God has reconciled us to Himself through His Son. He made the overture of peace at the cost of
His own Son’s cruel death on Calvary.
That is truly peacemaking. Now
all who come to God through faith in His Son have peace with God. But wait!
There’s more. God has given a job
to those who come to Him. He has
appointed them to be reconcilers as well.
That means that those who know Christ are fully commissioned as peace
makers.
This peace will come to one person at a time as they believe
in Him and find peace in their heart that will transform their families, their
neighborhoods, their nations and the world.
Again we turn to Isaac Watt’s great hymn rendition of the
Beatitudes. “Blest are the men of
peaceful life, who quench the coals of growing strife; they shall be called the
heirs of bliss, the sons of God, the God of peace.” Let us all let Christ make a peaceful
difference in our lives each day.
Visit my website at www.davidccraig.net for inspiring Christian
books. Coming this month is my newest
book Taking Care of Joe. This is the story of a caregiver for an
Alzheimer’s patient. See how God adds
His grace in the face of this horrible disease and how living a life of love is
living a life NOT interrupted. You may
also find some of my selected daily devotions at FEBC.org. FEBC is a vital missionary outreach to many
countries that are closed to traditional missionary work.
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